The subject matter herein relates generally to battery connector systems.
Battery modules, such as those for electric vehicles or hybrid vehicles, typically includes a plurality of cells grouped together to form the battery modules. The battery modules are connected together to form battery packs. Each of the cells includes positive and negative cell terminals that are electrically connected together. The positive and negative cell terminals are connected using buss bars.
Safety regulations, such as section 38.3 of the UN Manual of Tests and Criteria (UN Transportation Testing UN 38.3), require that the battery modules be protected during transportation to protect from electrical shorting, which could lead to overheating and/or fire of the battery module. For example, the battery module is required to be fused to avoid hazard during transportation, such as from the battery module manufacturer to the vehicle manufacturer that installs the battery module in a vehicle. Battery module manufacturers typically add an additional fuse to the battery module that is removed by the vehicle manufacturer when the battery module is installed in the vehicle. Such additional fuses are very expensive and discarded after the single use. Other battery module manufacturers provide holes in one or more of the buss bars to create a fused path in such buss bar. As current increases in the battery module, the battery module will fail at the fused path. However, while the addition of the holes is inexpensive, the area of reduced cross section carries less current than intended for the battery module, leading to failure of the battery module during use of the vehicle.
A need remains for a cost effective and reliable battery module having a fused path.